I woke up quickly and pulled away from Alfred's arms. There weren't any windows anywhere in the building but I knew it was early in the morning. I would be leaving in a couple hours.

Alfred frowned at the loss of warmth but at least he wasn't crying like before. I really didn't know what to expect from Alfred right now, especially since he is in such a fragile state. I had hoped this would all be easy, it was a foolish thought.

I took a quick shower and wasn't surprised to find Alfred still asleep when I stepped out, he could sleep through anything when he wasn't needed. I wondered how he was going to do with that once he was on assignment.

I sighed and looked away from him to my dresser, where I pulled one of the plain white tee shirts from the pile folded neatly there. The pants had more variety to choose from and I chose a sleek pair of black pants that were long, but didn't hinder my ability to move.

I grabbed my assignment file and read through it again. Everything listed I already knew, but reading through it now seemed to take the dangerous edge off of the situation.

Not that it wasn't any less dangerous, I wouldn't delude myself into thinking otherwise.

Going into an assignment filled with ignorance was one of the first ways to be killed. Paranoia was your friend in this situation.

I sat on my bed and checked my watch for the first time. Seeing that I only had two hours left, I pulled myself away from my bed and walked out our door, making my way to our weapons area. There were a lot of different weapons different people liked to use: Kiku liked swords, Alfred used whatever he had on hand, standard equipment, but I could tell he liked to use guns.

I always kept at least two guns at all times in practice. I was smaller than most of my opponents and eliminating enemies at a long distance was easier and less messy.

My favourite tool to use though was crafty and hard to manipulate, but deadly and extremely useful. It was a sort of coil, thin and long and razor sharp. I could attach it to walls and people if I used it wrong I could end up seriously injuring others and myself. Fatally.

I was one of the few that could use it.

I fingered the device mindlessly, drawing back at little when I felt the silvery wire cut into the tip of my finger, before strapping it onto my wrist.

I walked to the other side of the room and grimaced at the long wall covered in different kinds of guns. Some of them gleamed in the dim light while others hid like shadows; all were tools for killers.

The weight of the guns I chose felt abnormally heavy in my hands, and I strapped them in on obscure places around my body. I had gotten used to the feel of the guns being there, the cold metal that pressed against my skin was almost welcomed. These were what would keep me alive.

I heard the door to our room slam in the distance, letting me know Alfred was awake and looking for me. His frantic footfalls slapped against the floor as he raced past the door that separated me and him.

I wondered if it would be good if I left without saying goodbye to him. He would try to stop me, I knew it. I knew he would do something irrational and stupid. I wished he could just let me go.

"Right." I didn't jump at the voice, but I was surprised by it, I hadn't heard anyone enter. I hoped he wasn't there the entire time.

"You are ready then?" Arthur stepped forward into the light with a slight grimace; his green eyes glittered with a kind of sadness. I was almost comforted that he was showing me such emotion, but then again- it was unnerving and unnatural. I wished he would stop.

"You will take care of him won't you?" I asked, and the British man's eyes flickered to the door that led to the hallway, where Alfred was still searching for me.

"He is going to me monitored on his assignment." He replied softly, "he isn't quite ready to be on his own yet."

"So his is a test?"

He nodded slowly and pressed his lips together.

"I wish I could say the same for your assignment, but yours is very real Matthew. I am sure you know this already." His eyes flickered over to the shelf where my coil used to be and he raised his thick eyebrows.

"You are taking the coil then? Good, I was hoping that thing would be taken away before some other fool who believes they can master the technique gets themselves kills themselves." He paused. "You are one of the only ones who can use it. The last time I tried I received quite the scar, use it well."

He averted his eyes and let a shadow fall over it and I let my eyes wander to my watch. I had five minutes.

"Time for me to go eh?" I tried to smile but it didn't exactly work. The Brit looked to his own watch and grimaced again.

"How many guns are you carrying?" He asked quickly and I was reminded of the heavy weights that were hidden against me.

"Four." I responded. "Handguns."

He nodded in approval and looked me over before walking forward and brushing my long hair away from my face.

"Don't die in vain Matthew." He said quietly before looking me in the eyes. "We will take care of Alfred, focus on your skills and use what you have been taught, he will try to trick you, don't give him anything to use against you, and for god's sake please don't die in vain."

He stepped away and both our watches beeped, indicating my time to go. Arthur sucked in a breath and turned quickly towards the door, and I followed.

We walked in silence, our footsteps were inaudible, our breaths a whispered in the air. I- for once- felt excitement and fear shoot into my veins as I followed the shorter man. His shoulders were set and he walked with confidence, his steps were small and determined. That was just the man Arthur was.

We made twists and turns and I kept track of where we were with my mental map of the place, I knew where we were going.

He stopped in front of a large dark blue double door then pushed it open to reveal the helicopter pad, the blades were already twirling in the air, making my air blow back away from my face.

Arthur's short blond hair tossed around in the wind erratically and he grasped my arm in a tight grip, squeezing once before leading me to the door on the side of the copter. He didn't say another word to me but opened the door and helped me strap myself into the chair and adjusting the headphones atop my head.

He gave the pilot a quick salute before leaping from the craft and watching as the helicopter rose into the air, taking me away.